I. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a charger for a cordless handset, and more particularly, to a charger that can securely hold the cordless handset while the cordless handset is in a charge position.
II. Background of the Invention
As known in the art, the electrical power used by cordless handsets is from chargeable batteries installed therein. As the amount of electricity provided by the chargeable batteries is limited, the chargeable batteries need be charged after being used for a period of time. Conventionally, while being charged, a cordless handset 10 is placed in a charger cradle 20, as shown in FIG. 1. Typically, the cradle 20 includes two contacts 21 for electrically connecting with two charger contacts 11 of the cordless handset. It is important to ensure that the handset's charger contacts have a proper contact at all times with the cradle contacts, otherwise the battery will not be charged properly. Also, the handset should be secured in the charger cradle and arranged so that it does not drop out of the charger cradle easily. For example, the handset should be sufficiently secure such that vibrators used as a ringing indicator should not vibrate the handset out of the cradle.
To meet the requirements mentioned above, the mechanical design of the handset is very important and cannot be underestimated. However, the design is limited by the industrial design of the handset and the charger cradle. With new slim designs for the handset and cordless telephones, designing a very stable handset and charger becomes a challenge and can limit the implementation of new designs.
Another problem that is common in cordless telephones is that the charger cradle is designed in a way to securely hold the handset in place. Such design, however, reduces the ventilation of air around the battery area and, during charging, causes the battery and handset to warm up and, in some cases, became too hot. To solve the problem, in some designs, the charger cradle does not completely surround the handset or some mechanical solutions (such as clips) are used to secure the handset in the charger cradle. However, such methods are more complicated and have other limitations.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a charger cradle that can secure the handset and prevent the handset from getting hot while charging without changing the industrial design.